PLEASE READ ALL: My experience at Kensington was truly something out of a horror film. First, you arrive and check in with very unpleasant front desk staff, then you go and sit in a zoo like waiting area. Once your name is called, you are taken into a surgical waiting area which would rival the most crowded ER. Patient upon patient. No dividers. No privacy. Chairs and rows of pre-op and post-op patients. There was a man who had just been operated on laying on a bed inbetween the chaos. There was another post-op patient right in front of me with a barf bowl on his lap.. This was definitely not an environment conducive to calm. But.. that was JUST the beginning. I start getting prepped. EKG monitors hooked up. Eye drops administered. Now comes Nurse Ratchet to start my IV. This is where my nightmare began. I am a person with many allergies and I am wearing a red WARNING bracelet given to me BY Kensington stating those allergies. The nurse approaches. *Every word I write here is the truth, how ever unbelievable it may seem.* Nurse snaps at me "what's your deal with .. (insert medication name) I said "what do you mean? I can't take that medication. I don't understand the question." Monster nurse then says to me "well, that is the medication we offer here for sedation, so either take it or have your surgery without any sedation at all." Yes. You read that correctly. I was there to have a corneal transplant. Not something "simple" like lasik. A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT, and a "medical professional" is trying to coerce me to have the surgery without ANY from of anesthesia. When I said that that was out of the question, she then said to me "well those are your two options. Take the medicine you can't take (yes, she actually suggested that) "its a small dose" or do the surgery completely awake without sedation. If those two options don't work for you, we will have to cancel the surgery." I am in such shock at this point that I ask for her to leave and give me a minute to speak alone with my husband. Five minutes later: "It's been 5 minutes. What have you decided? Surgery awake or no surgery? I need to know now." Yes. That is exactly how I was spoken to and treated. Let them try and deny it. I wasn't alone. My husband was right by my side the entire time that this was happening. Another (this time very lovely) nurse overheard the conversation and came to my aid. She said "actually honey, we have another medication we can use for sedation." At that point I was so frazzled, so uncomfortable and all my trust in Kensington had been lost that I did not feel safe trying a new medication there. As I said, I am basically allergic to everything, so my thoughts were "what if something goes wrong and I have a reaction? A nurse here was just trying to force me to take a medication that I cannot take or have a surgery completely awake with zero sedation. I just don't feel safe here." So, that was that. Surgery cancelled and I left. Also, let me note, I don't live in Toronto. We drove 3 hours into the city and rented an AirBnb for a week... All for a surgery that never happened.
Nice staff. They really know their job and are efficient in moving people through. There are free lockers to store your valuables while you are in surgery.
Prepare yourself for a wait of at least 2 hours and getting longer! Rude people talking loudly on cell phones, and even a dog in the waiting room today (and it wasn't a service dog)! The owner allowed it to run freely! Not a pleasant clinic to visit.
My experience wasn’t great. Lots of and lots of waiting. In addition, my procedure did not go well and remedying the problem created is risky. I guess there’s risk with every procedure but I wouldn’t recommend this facility from my experience.
The doctors and nurses/technicians are very nice, professional, and have explained things (e.g. what test they’re running, what the test results say) very well the last two times I’ve been here. I especially appreciate that the doctor I’ve seen takes my concerns very seriously and is able to use test results to reassure me without invalidating what I’m experiencing. I’m docking a star because I’ve been here twice this month for tests, and both times I’ve been here some of the staff in the reception area were loudly bad-mouthing or gossiping about patients they had just got off the phone with. They were having pretty extended conversations talking about these people’s personal business. Honestly this would make me very nervous to call them in the future because I would just be thinking that if I said anything wrong or asked a “stupid” question they’ll be telling the whole room about it the second I’m off the phone. Furthermore, today as they were gossiping about the patient they’d just talked to on the phone, they were making comments and jokes about seniors which came across very mean-spirited and rude - and almost everyone in the waiting room besides me was a senior! I found it really unprofessional and off-putting. To be clear, I have no issue with the staff chatting together, or even with the volume of the conversation - but given that the entire waiting room can hear every single word they’re saying, I think they should be more mindful of their conversations.
The wait here is indeed quite long, my appointment took about 3 hours. It had 3 phases, two screenings with assistants followed by a check-up with the ophthalmologist. I don't think the long wait should be blamed on the clinicians, at least the ones I saw were efficient and caring. I would guess that it is probably just not receiving enough public funding to hire more staffers and clinicians
It's not easy to be on the front desk in a very busy clinic, but Aeva (first floor clinic) and Indra (with Dr. Zhang in 501) stand out. Pleasant, patient, efficient, and very helpful with request follow-up and appointment scheduling. Thank you both!
Kensington Eye Institute is a Canadian Eye care center based in Toronto, Ontario. Kensington Eye Institute is located at 340 College St #501, Toronto, ON M5T 3A9, Canada.
Please contact with Kensington Eye Institute using information above: Address, Phone number, Fax, Postal code, Website address, E-mail, Facebook. Find Kensington Eye Institute opening hours and driving directions or map. Find real customer reviews and ratings or write your own review.
Find Eye care center in Toronto
You Might Also Consider